The sexual-harassment reckoning is in full cry as 2018 dawns, but skeptical voices are growing louder.

If 2017 was about accusations and denials, penance and penalties, then 2018 could also be about backlash and pushback. Some people, and not just the accused, are fretting about "witch hunts" and "due process" and "innocent until proven guilty."

A tide of allegations has washed over the nation, swamping multiple industries, after scores of women, and some men, came forward — some after decades of public silence — to accuse prominent men of sexual misdeeds ranging from gross behavior to groping to assault to rape.

Now some supporters of the accused protest that all are being painted with the same brush, blurring the difference between a man who makes an offensive comment and a man accused of serial sexual predation. Most of the accusations are unproven as yet, or unprovable, but they are widely accepted in the current believe-the-accusers moment.

And consequences for the accused — apologies, shame, loss of jobs, reputation, career — have been swift. But in recent days, some men are pushing back, publicly and with increasing vehemence.

-- Michael Douglas, after being contacted by a reporter with allegations that he sexually harassed and blackballed a former employee, took preemptive action by going public with his denial in an interview with Deadline on Jan. 10. The accuser's story was "a "fabrication," and "completely untrue," he declared.

- Catherine Deneuve, France's most revered movie star, led a coalition of 100 French cultural figures who signed an open letter in Le Monde decrying the #MeToo crusade and its cascade of allegations. They deplored the "witch hunt" environment in which a new form of "puritanism' is threatening sexual freedom and imposing "summary justice" on the accused.

"In fact, #MeToo has led to a campaign, in the press and on social media, of public accusations and indictments against individuals who, without being given a chance to respond or defend themselves, are put in the exact same category as sex offenders," the letter lamented.

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Thousands of women are identifying themselves as victims of sexual harassment or assault following a call to action propelled by Alyssa Milano in the wake of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's downfall over of allegations of sexual misconduct. (Oct. 17)
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Smiley argued that PBS overreacted and rushed to judgment. "This has gone too far. And, I, for one, intend to fight back." This week he announced a new series about inspirational stories to be streamed online and shown on The Word Network, a religious-oriented cable and satellite channel directed at black viewers. He also announced a five-city "town hall" tour to talk about relationships in the workplace.

Even liberal critics of accused sexual harassers are wondering in public about "due process" and rush to judgment. U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., resigned after allegations from eight women that he groped or tried to kiss them during his previous career as a comedian.

Emily Martin, general counsel and vice president for workplace justice at the National Women's Law Center, an advocacy group where she focuses on sex discrimination and harassment issues, says "nervousness" about a backlash is understandable.

"The notion that there is an epidemic of men losing jobs due to accusations of sexual harassment because of these high-profile examples? There's no evidence, even anecdotally, that is a dynamic occurring in companies and workplaces across the country," Martin says.

"He deserves to have what he did (be) deplored but does he deserve to die? How many times can you kill a guy?," Barnicle told the Daily Beast.

Three-dozen female former Saturday Night Live employees publicly defended former SNL comic-turned Franken by declaring he never did anything to them. What he did to his accusers was "stupid and foolish," for which he should apologize but during years of working with him, "not one of us ever experienced any inappropriate behavior," the women wrote.

In Alabama, eight women who accused Roy Moore, the GOP U.S. Senate candidate, of sexual misconduct were labeled mendacious fantasists (by Moore, his wife and many of his most fervent supporters.) Moore subsequently lost to Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, at a business conference in Vietnam on Nov. 10, 2017.(Photo: NYEIN CHAN NAING, AFP/Getty Images)

Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg warned about how a backlash could be further bad news for women. In a lengthy Facebook post, Sandberg urged companies to put into place clear policies on how allegations of sexual harassment are handled, which she believes would help lead to a more equitable workplace culture that treats women with more respect.

"We have to be vigilant to make sure this happens. I have already heard the rumblings of a backlash: 'This is why you shouldn’t hire women.' Actually, this is why you should," she wrote.

Some writers nervous about a backlash have published lengthy columns wondering about a pending return to bad old days, when women who made accusations of sexual harassment were not believed, and experienced retaliation, career damage, even misplaced shame.

"Slowly, the backlash whisperers are becoming louder," warns Carol Costello, host of Across America With Carol Costello on HLN, who said in a column posted on CNN that she fears more people will declare the accusations have gone too far or are lies.

"I am ecstatic that so many women are coming forward with stories of harassment and assault. But I also fervently believe we — as supporters — have to keep a lid on over-correcting wrongs," Costello writes. "We cannot celebrate innocent men paying a price for those who are truly guilty."

Journalist and author (The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness)Jill Filipovic wrote on NBCNews.com about her fear of the consequences should even one accusation prove to be false or even slightly exaggerated.

"It won’t be big men who see their positions threatened — it’ll be feminists, and every woman who speaks out against a powerful man," she warned. "Let’s not kid ourselves: Men still dominate positions of power in nearly every U.S. industry. Heads are only rolling because those same men have decided the costs of ignoring sexual harassment and assault claims are simply too high."

UCLA gender-studies professor Juliet Williams dismisses the witch-hunt worry as piffle. "There’s no such thing as a witch and there is such a thing as a sexual harasser and a rapist, so it’s really insulting and dangerous to analogize them," Williams says.

George Clooney was succinct in his dismissal of witch hunts. "The reality is, it's not a witch hunt to these women who were trapped in a hotel room and told they were going to get a part and then suddenly out comes (accused movie mogul predator) Harvey Weinstein in his birthday suit. That's not a witch hunt, that's an assault."

"It's possible some things might change in the way Hollywood does business," said director Judd Apatow in an interview with Deadline. “I’m very hopeful about it, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to go away completely.